While reading Gary Schuld’s Oct. 13 local view “United Grain: No bullying, violence on our part,” I was asking who were the bullies at the port? I worked at the Port of Vancouver for nearly 10 years. Many of the tenants complained about the longshoremen who drove through the port at well above the posted speed limit or ran stop signs with impunity. They have their own set of rules.
I was the representative for my company at the port-rail-tenant meeting where I related an incident in which a longshoreman nearly hit me with a load of steel beams on a forklift. It was after dark, the beams were not lit with reflectors. I mentioned that perhaps they should have reflectors or that they shouldn’t be moving them during hours of darkness. The response from the port official at the meeting was, “Well, the port is a dangerous place to work.” I was flabbergasted.
When I read the comment attributed to Port of Vancouver CEO Todd Coleman that they (the port) provides “safe access of all parties into and out of the port,” it made me wonder who is being protected?
The only bullies that I had ever experienced at the port were the longshoremen.
Rebecca Griffith
Vancouver
